There is definitely something to be said for having your own little space in SL. Someplace to land when you log in, someplace to change clothes in private, someplace to express your personal style, someplace to just relax and get away when you need to. I know that I didn’t really feel “at home” in SL until I actually had a house to call my own. I’ve never felt the need to buy land but instead opt to rent for a few different reasons such as:

* I can rent with just a basic account* I won’t ever have to worry about selling land if I decide to move* I don’t need much space and it’s hard to find small tracts for sale

My first rented plot was very tiny (less than 500sqm), only had 200 prims and was pretty expensive considering the size and prim limit. But, I loved it nonetheless because it was right on a beautiful lake with mountains all around and quite a bit of privacy. I built two houses there, my first being a small one-room cottage and the second being a more elaborate two-level lake house. Unfortunately, that sim was sold and was turning into a commercial area so everyone had to vacate. I was heartbroken to leave but felt a sense of adventure about finding a new place to set down roots.Let me tell ya, I had no idea exactly how much adventure it would end up being! I knew I wanted someplace scenic, semi-private, fairly small and with the availability to build my own house. I looked high and low and was amazed (overwhelmed) to find sooo many different types of rental plots all in different sizes / prim limits, permissions and environments. There were the plots that were too big, too small, too expensive, too ugly, too restrictive or not restrictive enough. I know I must have visited over 50 unsuitable locations and was feeling just about at the end of my rope when I happened to visit Romantic Isle Rentals. I instantly fell in love with a small plot on top of a mountain that had a wonderful sunset view and was beside a lake with a waterfall. The price was right, the location exceptional and I was so excited to have found this small piece of paradise. I was anxious to find out more about the island and kept my fingers crossed that I was going to be able to build my own house on the plot since there was a cute little tree house there at the time. I sent the landlord, Ben Turas, an IM and plunked down a few days worth a rent to make sure I didn’t loose that little slice of heaven in the meantime.

I heard back from Ben and he was very friendly and helpful. He told me that he could either provide a house (several available to choose from that didn’t count against the prim limit of the plot) or I could build my own (WOULD count against the prim limit). He also told me that he would be happy to do some teraforming on the plot if I desired. I was just in awe about how accommodating he was being as that was quite a change from some of the other landlords I had met in my travels. I told him that I would be building my own house and he whisked away the treehouse so that I could begin to create my own space in SL again. Woo hoo!

That was several months ago and my new house is mostly built (still lots of details to work on..ugh, I hate detail work) and I’m still loving living there. So much so that I wanted to share it with y’all in case you were looking for a place of your own. Ben recently sent out a group notice stating that he is now providing a Shoutcast radio (plays top 50 Shoutcast stations) and a YouTube Video viewer to all the renters. Just a little icing on an already yummy cake. :)

Here’s some general info obtained from a notecard provided to prospective renters:

We have 18 retreats for rent, each with their unique house on it, or your own house if you prefer. Privacy is accomplished between the retreats by waterfalls and hills between them. Our rents are very modest, 2L(inner land retreat), 2.5L(one beach retreat) or 3L(two beaches retreat) per prim per week. The rent varies from 700L to 4500L per week, no TIER! You decide how many prims you would like to have, within certain limits: The number of prims has to be at least 25% of the sqm of a retreat, the maximum is about 75% of the sqm. If you require a bigger retreat, or want to combine two retreats into one, we can accommodate that.